Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsCataclysm beta: New raid markers
by Matt Low 
Nov 7th 2010 at 10:00PM
I decided to hop in and do some more raiding on the beta. When setting up some marks for pulls, I discovered that they're not flares anymore! I know the current raid markers appear like clouds of smoke. They were originally flares created by engineers. Some people deemed them Lucky Charms. Well, I daresay these are Lucky-er Charms! The icons will bounce up and down and they glow!
This will make positioning a little more obvious since they're so bright and hard to miss. Currently, there are only five markers available. No idea if additional symbols will be added in the future. Think five will be enough? What do you think about the new raid markers?
This will make positioning a little more obvious since they're so bright and hard to miss. Currently, there are only five markers available. No idea if additional symbols will be added in the future. Think five will be enough? What do you think about the new raid markers?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Calaana Nov 8th 2010 9:01AM
@kaminari
Actually, they stated a number of times that any addon that makes choices for the player that trivializes content is a no-no, and that AVR was likely going to be stopped. Shortly after "likely" came "Will be broken and it's mother fornicated with".
They are very much opposed to addons that place markers automatically, and I'm very certain the only thing saving boss mods is they just tell you WHEN to do something, not how(which is what avr did). Don't expect it's return anytime soon.
BigBadGooz Nov 7th 2010 10:07PM
Purty colors oooOooo
Imwants more
Steph Nov 8th 2010 1:55PM
At least now taurens can't stand on the marker and hide it from everyone.
Mozared Nov 11th 2010 9:11PM
Am I the only one who dislikes these? Sure, they're shiny, but they seem to have exactly the same problem the clouds in the Valithria fight currently have - it's impossible to see their exact (ground) location. At least with flares you could easily see when you were standing directly in them - with these 'pillars' it's a lot harder to tell. I like to have one originating spot on the floor that allows you to stand on exactly the right spot.
Xylaria Nov 8th 2010 12:01AM
Usually WoW developers don't want you to stand in one exact, perfect spot. If you can get to the general location of the flare, you're gonna be fine. I can't personally think of a single encounter where you'd have to be more exact than say a 5' circle general area. Even Heigan had breathing room.
Desmentia Nov 8th 2010 10:29AM
@Xylaria:
On the Lich King encounter, your raid needs to balance stacking as near to the center of the platform as possible to maximize the Val'kyrs' flight distance, and needing to stack extremely precisely on top of one another to ensure that the Val'kyrs all fly in a tight pack so Cleave-type effects hit all of them. The precision required to put all three of them within Whirlwind range of eachother by the time they reach the edge is measured in tenths of a yard. Of course, you could reduce the precision requirement by stacking slightly farther from the center, but you're penalized for doing so.
I definitely agree that there are few fights where you need to stand in one exact perfect spot, but the concern over their size and relative ambiguity isn't entirely unfounded.
Mozared Nov 8th 2010 11:12AM
Oh, no, I'm definitely not saying that exact spots are "required" (if they were then no current raid content would have been cleared), but that doesn't change the fact that less exact positions make things a bit more icky. One other fight I can name as an example is Heroic Sindragosa - if you put smoke signs exactly where you want the ice tombs to come, you can more easily anticipate where you're going to need to stand to avoid the first frost bomb and thus not get 1-shot.
The thing is, as anyone who has ever healed Valithria can tell you, that shiny 'glow' effects (and in that case: especially in the middle of the air) are extremely hard to exactly pinpoint, making it very difficult to get to their exact location. This obviously won't be game-breaking for Cataclysm raids, but they aren't as good as their job as the flares, if you ask me.
Heimdallw32 Nov 10th 2010 5:02PM
Personally I like this. This means that there are the new light columns AND engineer flares instead of 'free engineer flares for every raid, invalidating existing flares'. So you can still use flares (which anyone can use, no profession requirement and they are cheap to make) for when you want ultra precision, and use columns when you want ultra visibility.
I see this as increasing the options for raid leaders, not reducing.
Moeru Nov 7th 2010 10:27PM
I can finally use these instead of flashing an arrow with hotkeys when I want to point at something
MysticalOS Nov 7th 2010 10:33PM
the blizz staff wanted AVRE back on sindragosa to tell you WTF to do with your frost tomb, obviously.
Jen Nov 8th 2010 3:31AM
If you can't figure that out without AVRE... the raid's got a big problem.
Saz Nov 7th 2010 10:33PM
Shiny! Hopefully they'll toss in a few more markers eventually.
zaababy Nov 7th 2010 10:37PM
I LIKE IT
zaababy Nov 7th 2010 10:41PM
I LIKE IT
Rude Hero Nov 7th 2010 10:45PM
I like this.
At first it might seem a little out of place, but it's about time that we got some additional flashy utility "spells" that don't directly involve maiming people or helping them recover from their injuries.
Thomas Prescott Nov 7th 2010 10:53PM
The function to place the markers is protected, so no addons will be able to programmically drop these, even with a hardware event.
furry Nov 8th 2010 6:24AM
do they still only last 5 minutes?
Zeroum Nov 7th 2010 11:01PM
Why do I have the feeling of an impending discothèque-esque WoW machinima?
Now only if we had some 70s Afro hair...
Tri Nov 8th 2010 3:38AM
.. the new druid tree of life form does...
ZeroDesu Nov 8th 2010 4:28AM
The disco inferno humans will fit right in... and goblins can be dealers!!